Writing; Beginning To….End?

          I was six years old when I became conscious of my writing.  My father bought a football game for our Nintendo, and when he came home from work on Friday, we would play all weekend.  Me, my brother, and my father, yup, we played nintendo all weekend.

          So one weekend, I grabbed a few sheets of paper and started making a sports page just like something you’d see in your newspaper.  I wrote about the games we played against each other.

       If I played against my brother, and he used the Giants, and I used the Raiders, I’d write about the game between the Giants and the Raiders.  I had so much fun with it.  I wrote about how I was going to beat everyone, and they laughed and said bullshit.

     If someone told me I would eventually go to school and get a degree in the Media/Journalism field, I probably would’ve never believed it, but it’s funny how things work out.   Truthfully speaking, my writing was something I never paid attention to despite the fact that it became apart of who I was at such a young age.

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A while ago someone said to me, “Oh, you’re a writer?  Well, we all write don’t we?”  Yes Mr. Sarcastic, we all write, but writing is a talent.  Just because you write checks to pay your bills, that doesn’t make you a writer.  It’s an art, although I never looked at it that way.  I’m not trying to blow myself here, but I’m just saying.

     I get really upset when I create something, especially if it’s sports related, and I write and publish it through my site, and all of a sudden I’ll see a company like FOX Sports, for example, publish something similar.  It’s probably coincidental, (that’s what I tell myself) but it still bothers me.  I’m very very protective of my work because the field of Journalism and writing in general is filled with people like Mr. Sarcastic.

     Mr. Sarcastic is that person who has zero talent, zero writing ability, zero creativity, and absolutely zero fucking respect for the art and the people who are passionate about it, but he/she gets all the jobs in all the best places.  Mr. Sarcastic is the person who tells you to submit an article or ideas to him/her, but instead of publishing your work, he rewrites it, puts his own spin on it, and publishes it under his name.

     When you apply for a job with the Mr. Sarcastics of the world, they know you need a job writing for their publication in order to publish your work, but they don’t hire you.  It’s a vicious circle.  Someone at some point has to give you a shot right?  How are you supposed to have writing clips if you can’t get a job writing.  Do you get it?  They’re asking for something you cannot possibly have unless you get hired.  Where does it begin?  How do you get your stinky foot in the door?

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     I graduated college in 2003, and let me tell you something about journalism, it’s lost.  It’s lost because like I said, it’s filled with Mr. Sarcastic.  Now, that’s not the only reason, but that’s a large part of it.

    I can’t speak about journalism in the 1970’s because I wasn’t alive, but I graduated college in 2003, and I’m amazed at all the change the field has endured over the last twenty years.  Most of it being because of technology.

     Let us get down to business here.🔥🔥  As a citizen of this country, it is your right to know the TRUTH about what’s going on.  Today, you keep hearing the term “fake news” thrown around, and what people mean when they say that is the news your getting is made up to forward an agenda.

     As a journalist/reporter, it’s our job to give you the FACTS.  That is it.  Just the FACTS.  The TRUTH, well, that’s for you to decide.  The TRUTH, is something that will eventually come out.  As journalist/reporter we’re not supposed to be biased or give you our opinions about anything we write or report about.

     What do we see today?  Biased and opinionated journalism.  It’s everywhere!  What happened to Journalism?  Ask Mr. Sarcastic.  Ask Mr. Sarcastic how long has it been since he stepped out of his office and went digging for a story.  When was the last time he pushed so hard to get the facts about something, he was threatened.  Ask Mr. Sarcastic how often he just rewrites press releases, or takes information from his news feed and feeds it to you.  At the highest levels, ask Mr, Sarcastic how much money he gets paid to follow the narrative, and report “fake news.”

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     What happened to journalism?  Is that what you ask?  Well, you’re asking the wrong question.  The question is, what happened to the Journalist.  Ask Mr. Sarcastic.

     Afterall, it is Mr. Sarcastic that’s keeping the journalist out of work, but let us forget about Mr. Sarcastic for now.  He made his point, and we know where he stands.  He will never get fired.  We can’t beat him, he’ll never hire us, and honestly, we’ll never get along with him anyway, but we don’t have to.

     This comes down to doing what’s right.  This comes down to doing your job the way it’s supposed to be done.  The best part about being a journalist, is that it’s your job to get the news.  It’s your job to get the FACTS.  We have a right to know what’s going on, and we have an obligation to the people we report to.

    It’s a war.  It’s good versus evil.  It’s truth against lies and deceit.  Are you going to keep quiet, or are you going to speak up?  Are you going to follow a narrative, or are you going to wake up and break out to get the facts about an original story?  What kind of a person are you?  Are you a journalist or are you Mr. Sarcastic?  People always talk about our second amendment right being infringed upon, but what about our first?

     Journalism has a whole lot to do with the first amendment.  Our first amendment guarantees us the freedom of expression by prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or the right of the individual to speak freely.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

-law.cormell.edu

     This is why I say it’s a war.  If Mr. Sarcastic is in and the journalist is out, then we’re compromising our first amendment.  One time, I heard someone say, “we should need a certificate to be a journalist.”  Are you kidding me?  You have the first amendment giving you the right, what more do you need?  Oh, they’re looking for some type of regulation so when Mr. Sarcastic doesn’t let the journalist work, the certification will be some kind of background check that prevents him from ever getting hired within the business.  It’s another slander campaign against the individual.

     No thanks.  Getting a degree made it difficult enough.  Remember, I was writing when I was six.  No regulations, no certifications, no restrictions.  (This is why the internet is regulated the way it is.)  Whenever you have a platform that enables you to reach people, someone has to be in charge of watching, listening, and regulating content.  They want to know what you’re saying, who your audience is, and if people are actually following you.  They laugh at us and say we write for no money, but they fear us because money doesn’t drive our content.

     Journalism is lost because the journalist is without a home right now.  He/she is roaming the world wide web.   No one wants the journalist around.  Who’s going to let him/her in?  Where will it begin?

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     Here were are.  Thirty-three years later.  We’ve gone from the little boy writing sports articles about Nintendo games to, to this.  When the fuck did everything get so serious?  Oh, I forgot, it’s not serious as long as Mr. Sarcastic is around, because he doesn’t give you the FACTS.  He tells stories.  Like we’re children in a kindergarten classroom.  Dumb us down more please.  Thank you.

Have a good day everyone.